Last



L. W. KENNEY LAST Filed April 30, 1927 March 11?; 1929.

v" \WME Patented Mar. 12, 1929.

UNITED, sTArss LEWIS w. KENNEY, on LYNNFIEIQD, Massacnosnrirs. V

, LAST.

Application filed. April 30,1927. Serial No. 187,910. e

The invention to be hereinafterdescribed relates to lasts which areformed of two sections, one of which is movable relatively to the otherto shorten the last and thereby facilitate removal of the shoe from thelast and reapplication of the shoe thereto.

I-Ieretofore, the-fore and heel portions of.

sectional lasts have been connected by various devices, but so as I amaware,,these have not been found to be satisfactory. Some of themrequire hollowing out and removal of so much stock from the last that itis objectionably weakened and frequent breakage results. Others havebeen con nected by devices which, while permitting relative movementofthe parts, the shoes cannot be removed from the lasts without subjectingthem to serious strains, particu larly at the heel'a'nd front seams, andfre quently they are torn.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a last comprisingfore and heel parts which are connected by means which is simple andcheap in construction, easily applied and requires but little removal ofstock from the last- Hence it is able to stand up under the hard usagewhich lasts necessarily experience. The meansconnecting the parts iscontained wholly within the last. The full outer contour of the lastisretained and there are no interruptions or openings at the instep tointerfere with proper and desirable shaping of the shoe.

The character of the invention will be best understood by reference tothe following description of one good form thereof shown in theaccompanying drawing, wherelIl position of the fore partwith relation tothe heel part being indicated in dotted lines;

Fig. 2is a view of the top of the last;

Fig. 8 is a section taken on line 33 of Fig. 1; and I Fig. 4 is asection taken on the broken line 4% of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, the last shown therein as one good form of theinvention, comprises a fore part 1 and a heel part 3 which meet on aplane 5 which has a shar inclination rearwardly from the bottom to thetop of the last.

The fore part has a kerf 7 therein, and the heel part has a kerf 9therein. These kerfs register and meet at the inclined plane 5. A guideand connecting plate 11 pro- FigJl is a side view of the last, theoffset jects into the kerfs and is secured .to the .heel part by pins13. This plate has an elongated slot 15 therein extending parallel tothe inclined plane 5. A pair of pins 17 in the fore part project throughthe elonf gated slot and serve to connect the fore part with the plate,and at the same time permit limited sliding of the fore part along theinclined plane relatively to the rear part;

A'socket19 is in the fore part and extends to the plate and has lateralcommunication with the fore partkerf. This socket may conveniently beformed by boring through the bottom of the fore part, and the outer endthereof may be closed by a suitable plug 21. fined between the plate anda pin 24 at the bottom of the socket. Preferably this spring is undersome tension when the fore and heel parts are in normal relation.

In this socket is a coil spring-23 ,c0n-' The construction is suchthatfthespring I is compressible to permit the forepart to be slid fromits full line position to its dot ted line position shown in Fig. 1.'When moved to its full line position the pins 17 will slide along theslot and one of the pins will move-out of engagement. with an end of theslot.

store the fore part to its normal position shown in full. lines inFig. 1. The fore part is slidby the spring until limited by engagementof one of the pins with the end of the slot which serves as a stop. i

To permit and prevent sliding of the fore part relatively to theheel'part, a. latch 25 is provided adjacent the juncture of the partsandis pivoted on'a screw 27 at the top of the heel part. adjusted to theposition shown in Figs. 1

On release of the fore part the spring becomes effectiveautomatically'to re- 7 When the latch is and 2, it will overly the topof the fore part and prevent shifting of the latter relatively to theheel part. When it is desired to slide the fore'part relatively to theheel part, the latch is turned to a position in which it does notoverlap the fore part. The heel part has the usual spindle socket29adapted to be mounted upon the jack' spindle.

In preparing the last to receive. the connecting means, it is merelynecessary to make saw cuts in the fore and heel portions, bore the holefor receiving the spring, bore the holes for receiving the pins 13 and17 insert the pins, introduce the spring into the bore, place the plugin the end of the bore, and apply the latch to the heelpart.

In use, the last is inverted and mounted on the jack spindle in theusual manner;

V hen it is desired to remove the shoe from the last, the latch isreleased andrthen the fore part is pressed downward against theopposition of the spring, thereby moving the fore part from its positionshown in full lines 'to its position shown in dotted lines.

This will substantially shorten the length of the last, and the shoewill be slid rearward along the heel part of the last sufliciently tocause the heel seam to move away from the rear end of the last and allowready removal of the shoe therefrom Without danger of tearing the heelor front seams, and .with'out straining the shoe. On release of thepressure on the fore part, the spring Will become effectiveautomatlcally to re store the fore part into normal relation Withrespect to the 'heel part. Then the latcl turned to its lockingposition.

By this invention a sectional last is provided Which is strong andsimple in construction, and cheap to manufacture. Shoes may be quicklyand easily taken oil from the last and may be returned thereon forrelasting Without danger of injury to the shoes.

nvoaezz It Will. be understood that the invention is not limited to thespecific embodiment shown, and that various deviations may be madetherefrom Without departing from the spirit andscope of the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:

A last comprising fore and heel parts lore part projecting through theelongated slot, the fore part having a socket therein, a coil spring inthe socket confined between an end of the plate and the bottom of thesocket, said spring being compressible to permit sliding of the forepart along said plane into oilset relation With the heel part, and onrelease oi the fore part said sprii'ig being operable to slide the forepart along the heel part, and a latch on the heel part adjustable topositions to permit and prevent sliding of the fore part relativelytothe heel part.

LEWIS W.-KENNEY.

